Barclays lends SMEs K500m

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:27:58 +0000

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

BARCLAYS Bank Zambia has this year lent out over K500 million to support the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector in the country.

This commitment is under the Banks’ Business Banking Segment were the SME portfolio falls.

Barclays Bank Zambia managing director, Mizinga Melu, announced at the 3rd Nyamuka Zambia business conference in Lusaka yesterday that her institution had committed the fund to enhance SMEs access to finance.

“The fund is for youths in the SMEs sector. This fund is for providing credit to that sector because access to finance is one of the biggest issues they have. Our aim is to support the growth of entrepreneurs so that we can enable them to transition into becoming established businesses that can contribute more towards the growth of our economy,” she said.

Ms. Melu said SMEs remained an engine of economic growth as the sector employed more people. She had since encouraged the SMEs to create partnerships as it was one way of growing their businesses.

Ms. Melu also encouraged the 60 finalists for the Nyamuka Zambia business plan competition not to give up when they were faced with challenges.

“It is important to come up with bankable business plans for you to access credit from commercial banks. Let me also tell you that every plan comes with challenges, and every business, especially if that is when it is starting comes with challenges, but that does not mean you have to give up,” she said.

And Nyamuka Zambia manager, Namaya Lewanika, also encouraged the 60 finalists for the competition to be bold and not accept defeat which arose from business challenges.

“Even the most successful people have had failures and false starts before they made their breakthrough. So Nyamuka semi-finalists: do not be put off by the risk of failure. Be brave and bold, learn from any mistakes that will be made along the way,” she said.

Ms. Lewanika said winners for the 2015 and 2016 Nyamuka competition were currently working on their projects and had since recorded some success. Meanwhile, head of the Department for International Development (DFID),  Bruce McDowall said entrepreneurs and small businesses should be the driving force behind Zambia’s economic growth.

Mr. McDowall said the 60 semi-finalists were entrepreneurs with great ideas ranging from mobile food trucks to laboratory services.